Product Description

User Reviews

Overall Rating:

Value Rating:

Submitted by
Tim Ring
a AudioPhile

Date Reviewed: August 11, 2010

Bottom Line:

I Bought mine for £50 about 15 years ago. It was fitted with an SME Series 3 arm and I fitted a Nagaoka cartridge. I bought it in Noel Cloneys and he wouldnt let me check it out before I bought it (bought it as seen). I brought it home and it worked perfectly immediately (only thing missing was a small balance weight for the arm, replaced with a handy nut). I have it on a heavy glass shelf (made from glass chopping board for EUR5!). The whole thing needed very little setup.

This deck works perfectly and is as good as any I've ever heard (including a few exotic multi-thousand pound setups).

I use it with a Quad 44 + Quad 606 setup. I also have an older Qaud 44 which I use with a Quad 405 MkII and this setup delivers a warmer sound which suits the deck well. Along with a pair of ELS 63s the whole setup has a very engaging &effortless sound. The last LPs I bought were in the early nineties and some of these are DMM and the sound on these is very good.

I don't use the deck as much as I used too as my current CD/SACD setup easily outclasses any analog setup.

A great turntable for any price. Bought mine for € 249 to replace my Dual CS 606 that I had had for nearly 30 years.

The TD 125 MKII came with the original tonearm (the TP16) and an Empire cartridge which I removed to mount a Denon DL110 MC(100 €), I then adjusted the springs for a floating-like suspension, changed the capacitors on the PC board, cleaned the dust cover and oiled the wooden plinth.

The result: a sound of high definition with a wide soundstage rivalling modern turntables many times the price.

Regarding sensitivity to footfall vibration, the problem stopped after i readjusted the springs for maximum suspension and put some audio-grade shock absorvent rubber feet on the bottom.

I love the look as well as the sound. Haven't played a CD ever since I got it. I listen to Jazz and classical mainly but it equally sounds fine with rock, blues, vocal or acoustic music (bossa nova, Indigo Girls, Al Di Meola, etc).

I use it with either a Quad 44 pre-amp and a 405-2 solid state set up or with a tube driven Dynaco PAS-3 pre amp and a pair of Quad II tube monoblocks.

Probably the best hi-fi bargain I've ever found. It has brought new life to my vinyl collection. If you are thinking of getting one, think no more and grab one while they are still affordable.

My TD125 was purchased second hand in 1982. It is fitted with a Grace G707 arm which in turn has been modified to take a George Hadcock headshell. With this combination, it was obvious that almost any decent cartridge would return excellent results. I've used cartridges ranging in price from £15 to £100 (in the 80s!). It is a least as good a turntable as the Linn Sondek, and though more fiddly to level and set up is a much better value alternative to the Sondek. It's only weakness is the isolation from vibrations in the floor; it really needs to be mounted on a lightweight (but strong) shelf which is screwed directly to a solid wall.

I have aspired to own one of these tables since the early 1980's, and finally managed to find one locally.. After some very tedious re-assembly since this table was in pieces, I am delighted with the result. This one came with the excellent SME 3009 arm, and I installed a Grado Signature 8MR cartridge which I have been using on the above mentioned TD-166.. Well it is more than a world of difference between the two despite using the same cartridge.. Careful setup of this table and arm really pays off. Definitely the best analog I have ever heard in my system, subtly better in all respects than my Lambda Drive/Assemblage combo on well recorded material. If you want great analog for a reasonable price this combo would be pretty hard to beat.. Initial impressions indicate a substantial increase in the width and depth of the sound stage, greater presence, and more detail, almost like it highlights all the little things in a performance that make it more interesting. Did I say more detail?? Tight, well defined bass.. Clearly the arm/table combination are allowing my cartridge to perform at its best, I have a much better impression of this cartridge now - it is a real performer.

My system consists of all custom tube electronics, and JBL Rhodes speaker systems.

Notes: My table has a two piece wooden plinth which addresses some concerns about resonances in the stock plinth. Note that SME and others offered wooden plinths for these, and I think that would be the hot ticket.

The SME arm appears a little intimidating at first, but isn't particularly hard to set up, as long as you have a good set of instructions. Set up requires patience, and a 1.5mm allen key. This arm might not be a good choice for the hamfisted amongst us - I was quite nervous setting it up, and glad when it was done without incident, but in reality it probably isn't that fragile.. The stock SME wiring is good.